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Acts 8.1-13
June 12th 2016
Milk
Alright, last week we were introduced to the life and ministry of Paul.
Let’s go back and read past the first line of verse 1 in chapter 8.
Ac 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.
8 And there was great joy in that city.
9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.
12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
Acts 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Where it says that Paul was consenting unto the death of Stephan the word in Greek better means he was pleased with it, he approved of it.
Then Luke takes us to some insight into what was happening in the Body at that time, and says:
“And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.”
Acts 11:19 tells us that this death of Stephan was the reason (or we might say was what ignited persecution) against the church at that time.
In other words his death did not satisfy the throng of ardent Jews but only inflamed them toward other believers.
It’s the basis for all mass movements and for rioting and other events that occur at the hands of the masses.
Years ago at a surf competition in Huntington Beach a girl got up on the stage where bands played and awards were given out and removed her bikini top.
That single act threw the crowd into what might best be defined as mass hysteria and the place nearly burned to the ground.
A little bloodshed of one enemy of a historical faith goes a long way in convincing that a lot of bloodshed will do more.
This was the case here in Jerusalem. This first martyrdom was going to lead to more – millions more, quite frankly, over the ages.
But as will ALL things on earth God has a way of using the evil to do good. And in this case, the persecution took the gospel (which was thriving in the hearts and minds of believers congregating in that single locale) out to the far reaches of Judea.
Now remember, under Roman rule there was the area generally called Judea (which after the Captivity this name was applied to the whole of the country west of the Jordan but under the Romans, in the time of Christ, was the southernmost of Palestine broken up into three vicinities – Samaria, Galilee and Judea itself.
And apparently all of the Christians escaped from Jerusalem into these three areas – all except the apostles.
Why they remained is not said but they were probably empowered by the life of Christ and refused to flee knowing that He was on their side and they would be protected until it was their time.
That is one heck of a faithful walk.
We also know that this first dispersion of believers extended not only to Judea and Samaria and Galilee but also Phenice, Cyprus, and Antioch. (Verse 2)
2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
Now just because we read that devout men carried Stephan to his burial does not mean that they were necessarily Christian. They could have been Jews who found his death repugnant or simply religious men from both faiths who believed he deserved a proper burial.
We can say this because we know that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus played a role in the burial of Jesus.
(John 19:38-39).
And they carried Stephen (took care of all that was involved with his burial) “and made great lamentation” (which was the tradition among the Jews at funerals.
(verse 3)
3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
Apparently Stephan’s message had not taken root in the heart of Saul. We can view this as a matter of time or see it as Saul was hard hearted and was not going to allow anything but a vision to soft his heart. Hard to tell.
What we do know however is his heart was still full of Jewish zeal and he was engaged in more persecution, or as Luke puts it (in the King James):
“He made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.”
The Greek term translated havoc here is translated in other versions as:
“Paul was ravaging the church”
“cruely harassed the Church.”
“began to devastate the Church;”
“But Saul was burning with hate against the church”
“ravaged the assembly,”
“laying waste the church”
The Greek term is “loo mah hee noma hee” and it is most commonly applied to wild beasts (lions, wolves) and describes the devastations they commit.
He was a rager against the church as much as a wild beast would rage against the properties of civilization. Umberto Eco once said:
People are never so completely and enthusiastically evil as when they act out of religious conviction.
This was never so obvious that in the death of Jesus, the mind of Saul, the heart of those who fly jets into buildings.
But it is also alive and well in the minds of anyone who thinks they are justified in treating others poorly in the name of God.
I have had a remarkable readjustment of thought this past week that relates to this indirectly and I feel inclined to share it.
In years past and the not too distant present when I’ve been asked about why God allows bad things to happen I would often say something to the effect that “God only does good, that He cannot do bad, and that what happens that it bad (disease, war, disabilities) is the result of the Fall of Adam.”
On Thursday morning I was reading from the book of Exodus. There Moses was having a discussion with God about going to Egypt to rescue and liberate the Nation of Israel from Egyptian oppression.
There God tells Moses to go to them and tell him what to say and do. But Moses is resistant. He is not a man that is skilled in the area of communications and feared going to the Nation as a mouthpiece since his mouthpiece was, in his opinion, slow.
The Lord tells Moses to go and that He would be with him and guide him but Moses resists a second time and scripture says that while this “angers the Lord” He grants Moses a solution to his fears by allowing Moses to use his older brother Aaron as a mouthpiece.
(as an aside we learn that God wanted Moses to speak for him directly but allowed Moses to resist, gave him an alternative but that alternative wound up being the one who actually built the golden calf. Just a observation.) Anyway . . .
The thing that caused me to rethink my standard reply to suffering and trial in the world is what the Lord says to Moses when Moses complains of being slow of speech. He says:
In Exodus 4:10-12 “Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
And my world view changed – a bit. So while I still maintain that God does NOT do evil I see that the problem with my former view was I was interpreting things like blindness and ailments as evil.
In other words I have long looked at people born with defects and difficulty as a thing of evil or purposeless or bad. This is where my mind was changed . . . to such an extent that I now see all things that happen on this earth as purposeful (meaning according to His purposes) and since His purposes are
eternal and 2)
all good,
then what I have wrongly called bad or evil is in fact good and purposeful.
If (or since) God is all knowing (and has been since the beginning) we cannot escape the fact that He is well aware of all the outcomes of all things. And therefore what He allows and what He permits to come into existence and thrive (meaning remain alive) is in His purview and control. There is no getting around this.
Regarding creation – which is in His hands – it seems we have to admit that whatever He gives life – whatever lives – is His will, NO MATTER WHAT THE LIMITATIONS OR DISABILITIES.
I no longer believe them to be a purely a product of the fallen world – though there may exist in them some sort of mutual arrangement or give and take where God will allow our acts to contribute to what He ultimately allows to live (like Thalidamide babies, etc).
Nevertheless the point is God is in charge of all creation (He is God of the living) and if He and when He allows something to live I believe there is purpose – no matter the circumstance – and the purpose is GOOD, not evil – though it might be difficult.
It appears to be a matter of trust in Him to use and receive all life the way it comes to us and not to curse the heavens for its apparent failures or imperfections.
This lead to another observation. It is often more true than not that people and things born with disabilities are, in the end, more blessed (in terms of character and growth and inner-strength) than those who have everything handed to them on a silver platter.
In this vein it seems that if God is loving and desires that we learn and grow and become stronger through adversity and difficulty in this fallen world then those who some of the most obvious adversities are the most blessed and perhaps the most loved.
Add in that God uses the weak things of the world to accomplish His purposes (because in and through them He is glorified) we have yet another evidence that those who are “deficient” or “marred” or “disabled” from birth or by life are perhaps the most select souls that God gives life.
After having this realization and writing about it I went to the gym and rode an exercise bike and while on it happened upon a documentary about Janice Joplin.
She grew up in Texas and was different from the beginning than others. From early on she was physically unattractive and heavier – chunkier – than other girls.
She loved her family, but people were hard on her – and her response was to be hard back.
In her late teens a university in the state had the unfortunate tradition of voting for the ugliest man of the year in town.
Somebody got the idea that it would be funny to elect Janice and she won – and the paper put her picture on the front page.
A musician who knew her, now an old man, all of these years later, wept on camera retelling how much that hurt Janice.
So she escaped Texas, went to Haight Ashbury, got involved in everything horrible, and it nearly killed her before she ever recorded a single song.
The documentary went on and explained how her break came at what was called the Monterey, CA Pop Festival.
All the biggest names were there – and a spot opened for her band to take the stage.
And the film showed both her perform before the crowd and the crowd’s reaction to her performance.
I sat there weeping – remembering my new found view that it was God who allowed her to experience such pain, who gave her that face and that body but it was by and through that very pain that we have – even today – one of the greatest female singers of that (and even this) generation.
I could hear in my head God saying to Janice, just as He said to a stammering Moses:
“Who hath made a woman’s face? Or her voice? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?”
Anyway, Saul (who too was created the way He was and placed where He was to be used by the Lord) was out to squash Christianity single-handedly, or as Luke says he was . . .
“Entering into every house and haling (dragging) or compelling them to prison.”
Paul refers to his zeal in persecuting the church in a few places in scripture and as the principal agent in the cause he must have been looked upon with great esteem by his peers.
Kind of a let’s get Saul on those Christians, he’ll do the job.
In our day and age we have a more difficult time imaging some religious zealot breaking into our homes and dragging us off to religious prison but in Jerusalem Paul, a Pharisee, educated and possessing letters from the Sanhedrim (of which he may have been apart) the man had a LOT of power – and the Christians in Jerusalem were in all probability terrified for their lives.
So . . . they fled. According to God’s plan. Why would this be according to His plan? (verse 4)
4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
“YOO ANGEL IDZO LOGOS”
They went about announcing the good news of mercy (or what Luke calls “the word.”)
A couple things. It is doubtful that any of them were ordained “to preach the word” – and yet they did it. Probably not in an official capacity but just in discussion with others.
So even though they were in all probability NOT set apart as evangelista’s they shared the hope that was in them wherever they seemed to go.
Also we do not read that they set themselves up as public teachers (didasklos) or that they administered baptism or that they founded churches – none of this – though they may have done these things too.
But the primary result of them having been scattered was they shared the Good News that Jesus had come.
Jesus said in Luke 6:45
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
It’s a great watermark we all have to apply to our own lives. Sit down sometime and reflect upon what dominates your conversation, what subject flows out of your mouth most?
There you will discover the contents of your heart. Jesus said it. Makes sense.
And upon discovery it allows you to shine a light in your heart and restructure its contents if you believe it necessary.
At verse 5 Luke shifts gears. Having said that the saints at Jerusalem were scattered throughout Judea he now takes us to one of the providences of that land and says:
5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
Who was this Philip?
The name means lover of horses. And there are a few of them in the New Testament.
The first is one of the twelve apostles. And another was one of the “seven” who were chosen to wait on tables (along with Stephan in Act 6:5. Like Stephan he was first called to serve the widows and then in Acts 21 we will see that he is renamed and referred to as “the evangelist.”
As one of the saints who was “scattered abroad” by the persecution that arose on the death of Stephen Luke chooses to tell us what he specifically did one he fled the area. (Again, verse 5)
5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
I know the King James says the city of Samaria but there was not actual city or polis called Samaria at the time but only a region. The ancient city “Samaria,” which was the capital of that region, had been destroyed completely by Hyrcanus so that nothing of it remained at this time (Josephus Anti. b. xlii. chap. x. 3.)
Afterward Herod the Great did build a city on this site (and called it Sebaste in honor of the emperor Augustus) and it may be that Luke is speaking of this city.
Anyway, Philip went to someplace in the providence of Samaria and preached Christ.
In John 4:1-54 we read the account of Jesus Himself preaching to first the woman at the well in this vicinity and then to others. I can’t help but believe that this is one of the reasons Philip had so much success.
We have a tendency to think of our successes in sharing the Gospel to our own value but in most cases we are but a single piece of the puzzle as God has used everything and everyone in the Body to reach the soul from the first apostles, to the blood of the first and last martyrs, to the first manuscript copiests, to the believers over the ages, and to any and every person that somehow contributed to conversion of a soul who is ONLY converted by the Holy Spirit.
I say this because the more believers are able to see the reality of this the more humility is allowed to thrive. In any case, Philip stepped into what appears to have been something of a revival.
The word Preached here is “kay ROOS sos” instead of the commonly used term “yoo-angel-idzo.”
In fact in verse four speaking of the scattered saints who went out preaching the Greek is YOO ANGLE IDZO but here in verse 5 (speaking specifically of Philip in Samaria) the term is KAY ROOS SOS.
Isn’t that funny? Both words (in verses 4 and 5) are translated preached but two different Greek words are used. Why?
The term kayroosos is used in Matthew in describing John the Baptist when he came to prepare the way for the Lord and best means “proclaiming,” like a street preacher – announcing outloud – whereas the YOO angle idzo means sharing but tend to omit the shouting from a soapbox.
So we see that Philip in Samaria was not passively sharing with his new neighbors – He was announcing His Messiahship!
(verse 6-8)
6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.
8 And there was great joy in that city.
Now, there are a couple of main ways to understand what Philip did here.
First, some say that because he was chosen to be a deacon (diakonos – to serve the widows) that deacons are supposed to also preach and that with the office of deacon comes an ability to do miracles – healing and casting out demons.
The second way to understand what Philip did was that as a simple believer he, by his faith and spirit within him, he was gifted with the ability by the Spirit to do miracles and preach.
I personally support this later understanding and do not believe that his being set apart as a servant (a diakonos) of widows needs gave him any more powers to preach or heal than any one else.
I say this because at the time that the seven deacons were chosen all that was said was they were chosen to help solve a problem with the distribution of goods to widows – and nothing was bestowed upon them to preach or do miracles.
Because in Christ Jesus there is no difference between any believer, and because, as Peter says:
1Pe 2:9 we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light
I believe that any believers of any social status or gender can preach, evangelize or perform miracles as lead by the Spirit through Christ.
We could read into the fact that Philip was set apart to wait tables as evidence that he was also gifted to preach and do miracles but this is not clear from the text.
What is clear is that of those believers who were scattered Philip had great success in Samaria and this was in part to him preaching and people seeing miracles through him – including
unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them:
and many taken with palsies,
and that were lame,
were healed
Finally, and not to beat a dead horse but I must add that I am convinced for that day and age of material religion when demonic possession and lameness and palsy could only be materially cured was through miracles that in our day believers like you and me are still performing the work that Philip did here in Samaria –
That we too preach, and that through our sharing Jesus we too see . . .
unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, coming out of many that are possessed with them: and . . .
that many taken with spiritual palsies, and spiritual lameness, are healed.
In the face of what God did through Philip we read: “And there was great joy in that city.”
In the face of this joyous backdrop Luke chooses to tell us of another situation in Samaria (verse 9)
9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
Now, early church “fathers” (a term I personally dislike) have written a lot about this biblical character named Simon and known as Simon Magnus – but amidst all of it we don’t have anything absolutely concrete so it’s all really just speculation.
There was a Simon who was born in Cyprus that was a magician, and was employed by Felix to persuade Drusilla to forsake her husband Azizus, and to marry Felix.
This is assigned to the same Simon we read about here.
According to Moshiem, a Lutheran historian Simon Magus was probably a Jew or a Samaritan who was proficient in the arts of magic. Apparently he had studied philosophy in Alexandria in Egypt and then lived at Samaria.
But the rumors continue from here saying that after his experience here in Acts 8 the early church papas say that he fell into many errors, and became the founder of a sect known as “the Simonians.”
From his name we even get the term simony which means the buying or selling of ecclesiastical rites and privileges – which Simon here tries to do.
One legend of Simon accuses him of saying that he came down as the Father (to the Samaritans); that he came as the Son (to the Jews) and that he says he came as the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles.
Another says that He did not acknowledge Christ to be the Son of God, but was instead His rival.
Now we have all this history and all these differing accounts about Simon. Perhaps where there is smoke there’s fire. He does seem to have become an enemy to Christianity.
The closing rumor about him is that he came to a tragic death at Rome. First that he was honored as a deity by the Roman senate and then a statue was erected to his memory in the isle of Tiber but again, all this is generally seen as fables. His end is not known.
What we CAN say about Simon, in my estimation, is what Luke writes.
9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
So we know he was a practitioner of magic, which amazed the people of Samaria, and that he promoted himself – boasted actually, that he was some great one.
His ways of magic and soothsaying are expressly forbidden in Leviticus 19:31; 20:6.
Lets end with verses 10-12
10 To whom they all (the Samaritans) gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.”
It is in part due to the phraseing of this description that Simon is accused of saying that He was the Messiah – that the people were saying about him:
“This man is THE great power of God.” (verse 11)
11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.
The word bewitched here in the King James is a little weighted. It really means to astound or amaze, where Bewitched means overwhelmed with a spell (or Elizabeth Montgomery) take your pick. (verse 12)
12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Here we see living evidence that the light and truth can overwhelm the darkness in those seeking to see and hear.
But take note of what we read in verse 13:
13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
In verse 12 Luke tells us that the people (LISTEN)
But when they
believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God,
and the name of Jesus Christ,
they were baptized,
both men and women.
Got that. Now hear verse 13 again:
“Then Simon himself believed also –
(BELIEVED WHAT?) The also hear tells me that Simon also believed . . .
Philip who was preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God,
and the name of Jesus Christ,
(verse 13)
“and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.”
Okay.
I have just told you a bunch of stuff about Simon Magnus. Really horrible stuff that presumably has some truth to it.
But here we read plainly from Luke:
13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
This opens us up to a really vital discussion in the faith – is belief – what we might call initial faith enough?
The contributing views to our answer are interesting because in our day we have people who say:
Believe and you are saved – and they use scripture to prove it.
Then there are those who save that a person CANNOT believe UNLESS God reaches in and touches them – and then once that happens they will never stop believing.
But in the case of Simon we have a conflict – but it’s a conflict that is solved if we tweak these popular views of today and just use Jesus own teachings to make the matter clear.
Luke plainly says that Simon “also believed” and that He was also baptized. I accept this at face value. And I would suggest that Simon entered into relationship with God through Christ by the Spirit through the Word that Philip preached.
Had he been killed then and there he would have been saved. He tasted the truth of Christ and believed unto it.
But something happens to Simon. And it happens rather quickly because in the next five or eight verses we will read that when the Apostles came and gave the people the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands and Simon sought to buy this power from them that Peter rebukes him and his character.
Can a person believe without having the Holy Spirit?
Is believing alone truly enough?
Can a person believe but then not?
We will discuss these questions more next week.
Q and A
